Youth justice to suffer swingeing cuts

SWINGEING cuts to youth justice, immigration services, legal aid and the courts, but more money for prison building, witness protection and specialist agencies are detailed in Budget 2011.

Funding for the Probation Service — signalled by Justice Minister Dermot Ahern as a way of addressing the prison overcrowding crisis — is being marginally cut. However, the union representing probation officers does not think the cut will hurt and believes the planned expansion will be able to take place.

Reacting, Liam Herrick of the Irish Penal Reform Trust, said: “The main problem with Irish crime policy for many years has been a wasteful overemphasis on imprisonment and an under-investment in crime prevention measures. This imbalance will be dramatically exacerbated by this budget.